This year, the number of internet users worldwide reached the record-setting 4-billion mark, according to a report from We Are Social and Hootsuite. As 3 billion people access social media each month, our world has never been so connected—and so, it’s never been easier for high-impact photographs to rapidly spread, at times so fast that their necessary context gets left behind. Photojournalists remain crucial to our understanding of world events, providing us with front-row views that would otherwise be inaccessible. Here, we share the unforgettable news images that defined 2018.